What if?
by usedtoruletheworld
Summary: What if none of the flock members had been kidnapped and taken to the school? What if they lived with their parents and led normal lives? What if they all lived on the same street? Max still has to save the world. Fax and some Eggy. Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is a story that has been bouncing around in my head for a while. It's my first fanfic ever, so please give only constructive criticism. Thanks!**

The first day of school is always the worst. I know there are lots of kids who love the first day back at school, new classes, teachers, school supplies, and clothes. They're all idiots.

School isn't really so bad for me, I'm smart and get good grades without working too hard, but it's all pointless. When are we going to use any of it in real life?

Anyway, I should introduce myself first. My name's Max, short for Maximum. Actually, my birth certificate says Maxine Ride Batchelder, but when I was little for some reason I thought Max was short for Maximum, and I've been Maximum ever since.

I'm fourteen, so today I will be starting 9th grade at our local highschool. I'm not exactly looking forward to it. The only bright spot is Fang and Iggy will be there with me.

A little bit about Fang and Iggy:

No, those aren't their real names. Iggy's actually called James Griffiths, and Fang is really Nick Walker. They nicknamed themselves when they were small, like I named myself Maximum. I guess we're all just weird like that.

Fang is my closest friend, which I guess is a bit disloyal to Iggy, but it's true. We've lived on the same street for as long as we can remember, and been best friends that entire time. I'm older than Fang by two months, and Iggy by six months so I've always been the leader. My parents have this hilarious video of all of us playing in the park when we're about three. The entire time I'm telling the boys exactly what to do, and they actually listen. The highlight is when I decide that Fang is going to be a dog and make him roll over and then pat him on the head. Fang will never forgive me for that.

Anyway, now that you know who I am I guess I should get to the real story.

My alarm went off at 7:00 this morning, a painful reminder that summer was over and I could no longer sleep in. I drag myself downstairs, still in my pajamas, to eat some breakfast.

Mom's already up, passing my little brother and sister plates of scrambled eggs.

"Grr,"my brother snarls, attacking his eggs. He's only seven, and going through a wolf phase. I blame Mom for letting him watch a TV special about wolves in the wild.

"Ari, you can pretend to be a wolf after breakfast. At the table, we're going to be humans," my mom says patiently. Ari nods agreeably and picks up his fork.

We eat breakfast quietly, mostly because my mom isn't stupid enough to try to start a conversation with either me or Ella at this ungodly hour. When I notice Ella nearing her last bites, I quickly shovel the rest of my food into my mouth and swallow.

"First shower!" I call, throwing my dishes in the sink.

"What? Noo, Max!" Ella whines. "Your showers take forever!"

I shrug and head up the stairs as Ella turns beseechingly to Mom. Mom looks between us and shrugs in a _what do you expect me to do?_ motion.

"Less than ten minutes this time Max," she calls up the stairs. Ella glares at me and puts her plate next to mine in the sink.

We actually get along pretty well, Ella and I. It's kind of necessary when you share a room as small as ours. Ella must have inherited Mom's patience, because I'm not exactly know for domestic cleanliness.

I shower quickly and towel dry my hair, not caring if it stays wet. Getting dressed is an annoying process, mostly because it reminds me that every other freshman girl will be putting lots of thought into their outfits, and sizing up everyone else. Feeling a tad rebellious, I throw on some jeans, a white t-shirt, and a simple gray hoodie. All my new books sit at the end of my bed, and I stuff them into my plain black backpack. Mom offered to get me a new backpack for this year, but I didn't want to. I've had this bag since sixth grade, and it's still perfectly good. When the seams start ripping, I'll get a new backpack.

In the time it takes me to get my stuff together, Ella has showered, blowdried her hair, and put on the outfit she laid out last night. She's wearing a skirt - an actual skirt - and a stylish pink sweater. Yes, my sister is one of those people: she's looked forward to starting school again. She's especially excited about seventh grade because she gets to start changing classes.

"Are you ready to go?" Ella asks cheerily.

I glance at the clock. It's only 7:30. "School doesn't start for another half-hour."

"I know, but I want to get there early. And it's a ten minute walk to my school, fifteen minutes to yours."

"Fine," I growl. I really do love my sister, but I just don't understand what she likes about school.

As if she's reading my thoughts, Ella says, "I don't understand why you don't like school. At least you're good at it."

She's right. Ella's not stupid, not by a long shot, but she does have to work pretty hard to get the grades she wants. I got really lucky to have schoolwork be so easy for me.

"It's not the work," I say, even though we've had this discussion many times. "It's the people." Translated, that means "I suck at socializing."

Ella rolls her eyes. "It's not like you don't have friends."

"I have more enemies. And have you seen my shoes?"

"You left them by the front door," Ella replies picking up her already packed, turquoise backpack.

I race downstairs but find only one sneaker by the front door. I pull it on and limp around the kitchen looking for the other shoe. Finally, I find it under the table, clamped between the teeth of my demented brother.

Ari growls as I snatch my shoe from him. "Wolves don't chew on shoes," I tell him.

"That's not a shoe, it's a rabbit."

"Maybe your shoes are rabbits, but my shoes are definitely not rabbits." Yes I sounded completely ridiculous.

"Can I go to school with you?" Ari asks, abruptly changing the subject.

"You don't start until tomorrow," I remind him. "Tomorrow we'll all walk to school together okay?"

I stand up and walk to the door where Ella is waiting without giving him a chance to answer.


	2. Chapter 2

It's almost scary how easily I slip back into our routine. It just feels so natural to be walking across our lawn to Fang's house. We climb the steps and I knock loudly on the door. Nothing happens but that's normal. Fang's mom is either asleep or not here. She's a single mom and had Fang when she was really young, so she's 30-something now. She's really nice of course, but has a hard time taking care of Fang.

I knock again even though Fang won't answer the door for me. "Fang you have thirty seconds to get out here or we'll leave without you! ONE, TWO..."

Fang appears in his usual black ensemble before I've reached five. He grabs his backpack and starts down the porch steps without saying a word to either of us. He doesn't talk much, but he doesn't have to. I always know what he's thinking.

Silently, we walk next door to Iggy's house. Iggy is already outside. He always leaves his house when he hears me shouting at Fang. "Hey guys," he says as we approach. "Hey Ella."

Ella blushes slightly and says hi. Hmm... very suspicious.

Wordlessly, Iggy hands Fang two homemade blueberry muffins. This too, is just routine. Iggy and his parents all like to cook, and Fang cooks almost as badly as I do, so Fang gets his breakfast from Iggy everyday. That means Fang wakes up later than either of us. Lucky *insert insulting word here*.

We walk in silence until out of the blue Ella says, "Are you guys excited?'

"No!" I answer immediately.

"We all know you're not excited Max," Ella says. "I was asking the boys."

"Well they're not excited either,"I say, somewhat immaturely.

"Do we get a say in this?" Iggy asks.

"No."

"That was kinda rhetorical Max."

"I don't care. If I'm not excited, you and Fang aren't either."

Iggy starts to respond but it cut off by Ella's squeal. "Nudge!"

Ella runs towards her friend and they hug each other, both jumping up and down and squealing. Nudge is an African-American girl who lives a few houses down from Iggy. She's a year younger than Ella, but they're best friends anyway. Nudge is a really sweet kid but she has strange obsessions with fashion and hair, and she _never shuts up!_ Seriously, she talks the entire time she's awake, and as I know from her many sleepovers with my sister, she talks in her sleep.

Finally though, we reach the elementary and middle school. Ella and Nudge skip - literally, they skip - off to their classes and we continue on.

After a few moments of blessed silence, Iggy says, "So are you guys really ready for high school?"

There's a pause as Fang and I consider this.

"We're starting a new school but it won't really be _that_ different. It's not like we're going to a new planet with, like flying people and talking dogs. The only difference is that the teachers don't know us."

"Well I'm sure the teachers will have been warned about Maxine 'Smart-ass' Batchelder," Iggy quips.

"Don't call me that!"

"What? Maxine? Smart-ass?"

"Both actually."

"Your name _is _Maxine."

"Whatever, _James._"

"You know that the teachers will call you by your real names today."

Iggy and I both look at Fang, as he participates in the conversation for the first time. He looks back at us.

"He has a point," I say. "Maybe we should wear name tags. It's been a while since we've had to introduce ourselves to teachers."

"What if there's like, an old, almost blind teacher who can't read anything smaller than a billboard."

"Then she'll have a hard time teaching us."

"Who says this hypothetical teacher is a 'she'? Sexist pig."

Fang ignores my comment and goes back to eating his muffin. Apparently he can't eat and talk at the same time. Iggy can. It's disgusting.

I've been so focused on teasing Iggy, I didn't notice we'd gotten to school. Now I shut up too, focusing my attention on finding the right class.

"We all have this first class together, right?" I ask with a touch of desperation in my voice. Whoa, where'd _that_ come from? I am not at all desperate. Not even nervous. Like I said, it's just a new school. I've taken new schools before.

Fang just nods and points to the nearest classroom. The number on the door matches the number written on my class schedule. Apparently this is ninth grade English. Joy of joys.

We enter and find the class room about half-empty (yes I'm pessimistic) with traditional rows of desks. I motion to the others to sit down in our usual formation: me in any random desk, Fang in the chair behind me, and Iggy right next to me. We discovered in fourth grade that this is the easiest way to pass notes.

Fang is the tallest and I'm the shortest, so he can look over my shoulder at whatever I'm writing. Iggy can just look across the aisle.

The second we sit down, a woman who I assume is the teacher comes in. She is really old, and judging by the thickness of her glasses, almost blind. I grab a pencil and paper off Fang's desk and scribble a note to him and Iggy.

_This is the hypothetical teacher! _

Fang snorts and takes his paper back. Almost immediately it's back on my desk.

**I told you ****she was female. **

Randomly, I hear my name. "Maxine Batchelder."

For a second I'm confused and then I realize the teacher just called my name.

"Yes?"

"I am taking roll," she says as though she's talking to someone exceptionally slow. "When I call your name say 'here'."

"Oh, here. And actually I prefer to be called Max."

As the hypothetical-turned-real teacher finishes taking roll, we continue our note passing.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: The rest of the school day is in notes passed between the trio. italics is Max, bold is Fang, and underlined is Iggy. It starts in English and changes to every one of Max's classes.

_Okay Mr. Psychic, what's our next class?_

**Science. Some of us actually look at the schedule. **

_Then what's our next teacher like?_

**He won't be here today. He's been kidnapped by aliens and replaced by a clever imposter. **

He?

_Ha! We'll hold you to that prediction Fang!_

**So asking about our classes wasn't just a trick to get me to tell you your schedule?**

_No, but that would help._

**Fine, you have English, Science, French, PE, Pre-Calc, History, and whatever elective you chose. **

When's lunch?

**Inbetween PE and Pre-Calc. But you have a different schedule Iggy. **

Really? What's mine?

**English, Science, Algebra, PE, your elective, History and Spanish. **

Why am I taking Spanish?

_You wanted to. But I have a better question. Why does Fang know our schedules when we don't?_

**I'm the only one who could be bothered to get them off our school website. **

Good reason.

**What are your electives anyway?**

What exactly is an elective?

_It's the class you choose. It can be an art class, a music class, or another language. _

Oh, I think I chose painting and drawing.

_Mine's acting._

You'll be good at drama Max.

_Shut up Iggy. What's your schedule Fang?_

**Same as yours, except I have Spanish with Iggy. **

_Why do you have a different schedule Ig?_

**He's taking Algebra, not Pre-Calc.**

Who takes Pre-Calc in their freshman year anyway?

**People who like math and can actually be bothered to study.**

Max never studies.

_Yes I do! When my parents make me!_

**Guys, this class is over. Did you hear a single thing the teacher said?**

_Nope. Anyway, time to test your science teacher prediction Fang._

* * *

><p><span>Guys, this class is boring.<span>

_Yeah, the teacher has no idea what SHE is talking about. _

**You're still gloating over that?**

_You were wrong Fang, that's pretty big news. _

Nah, he's wrong all the time.

_How many moments can you think of?_

There was that time when he said you wouldn't notice if we "borrowed" your laptop.

_What a huge mistake that was. I think his ribs still hurt. And there was the time he thought you would beat me at arm wrestling._

Can we not mention that little incident? My ego still hurts. And then there was the time he wait never mind.

_What?_

I promised I wouldn't tell you about that.

**IGGY!**

_WHAT aren't you telling me?_

**Iggy, if you tell her I swear I will kill you!**

_Iggy if you don't tell me **I** will kill you!_

Guys! Class is over... thank god.

* * *

><p><em>Fang, what wasn't Iggy telling me?<em>

**It's nothing, really. Please don't quiz him about it at lunch.**

_How many secrets are you guys keeping from me? _

**Just this one. Oh, and we didn't tell you that we once fed Magnolia pickles.**

_You fed my dog pickles?_

**She really likes them.**

_Okay... _

_Is that really it?_

** Yeah. I swear it's just this one thing. Please let it go Max.**

_Are you begging?_

**NO! Well, kinda. Aren't you going to listen to the French teacher?**

_Well, seeing as I didn't pay attention in Science or English, and she seems okay, yeah, I'll listen for a little bit._

* * *

><p><em> I really hate Coach Jones. <em>

**I know Max, you complained about PE all through lunch.**

_Seriously! What kind of teacher makes you run FORTY FREAKING LAPS on the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!_

**I get it, you're annoyed. But it's just annoying me to hear you complain about it for so long. Almost makes me wish I were in Algebra with Iggy.**

_Hey! _

**It's true. Stop complaining.**

_Did you want to run that much in our first PE class ever? _

**No. But that doesn't mean I need to keep going on about it. And it's not like it was hard for you anyway.**

_It doesn't matter that I CAN run that much. It's the principle of the thing. _

**Max, if you keep passing me notes in all our classes, neither of us is going to learn anything, and we'll have to take freshman classes again next year.**

_This isn't a freshman class. It's a junior class._

**All the more reason to pay attention. What's the point of taking advanced classes if you're just going to fail them.**

_Fine. But it's not like you weren't passing notes as well._

* * *

><p><span>So, how'd you guys manage without me in math?<span>

_The other students hated us 'cause we're so much younger than them, the teacher loved us 'cause we're so much better than them, and Fang got mad at me for passing him notes._

How'd he tell you he was mad?

_He passed me a note._

HYPOCRITE!

**Shut up Iggy!**

_I hate this teacher. _

That was random Max.

**Why? He's the only one to give us a worthwhile lesson that's still interesting, and not overwhelming for the first day back.**

_He called me Maxine._

Well he called me James!

_That's your name Iggy._

And your name's Maxine.

**Guys, you can handle your regular names for one class period a day.**

Whatever, Nick.

_Class is over guys. Fang, can I copy your notes after school?_

**Only for today. Have fun in acting.**

* * *

><p><span>So did you tell her?<span>

**And here I thought I was going to get one class of peace.**

Did you?

**Of course not. And you better not tell her either.**

It's not that important.

**Not to you.**

Do you really think she'll make a big deal out of it?

**I don't know which is worse, her making a big deal, or her not making a big deal.**

That was cryptic.

**Not really.**

Yes it was.

**Do you know what that word means? **

Not really, but it sounds cool.

**The word cryptic sounds cool?**

Yeah, it sounds... cryptic.

**You're so weird Ig.**

At least I don't hear voices in my head.

**That's Max.**

I think she was kidding about that.

**You _think?_**

So she was kidding?

**Yes Ig she was kidding. Now leave me alone or I won't let you see my history notes.**

Fine. But Fang?

**What?**

Tell her.

* * *

><p>AN: There will be chapters just like this randomly inbetween regular chapters. PLEASE review. I've only gotten one review per chapter so far.


	4. Chapter 4

When our last classes end, we meet up at the entrance and walk home quickly, stopping to pick up Ella and Nudge. All five of us go to my house.

The first thing I notice when we get there is that my mom made chocolate chip cookies. The second thing I notice is that Ari is eating a magazine. The third thing is that my dad is sitting at the kitchen table eating a cookie and writing something on a piece of paper.

My dad and I have a kind of weird relationship. When I was little, he was my hero. He taught me a lot, like how to throw a punch, how to play basketball, how to fix a dislocated shoulder. But a couple of years ago, he left us without warning. He moved to California and worked there for almost a year. I still don't understand why he came back, or why he left in the first place.

Anyway, since Dad left, I stopped trusting him, and completely stopped looking up to him. So when Fang, Iggy and I walked into the kitchen, I was immediately wary.

Dad doesn't say anything as we walk in, and neither do I. But when we start eating the cookies, he has to acknowledge our presence. Dad likes Mom's cookies almost as much as I do, so he can't bring himself to ignore anyone who could be taking some from him.

"Hello Max, Fang, Iggy." Only Iggy responds, Fang and I remain silent.

After a few minutes of us eating his cookies, my dad gets annoyed. "Why don't you go do homework somewhere else? I need to work in here."

Iggy and Fang would probably leave, but I always make a point of never doing _anything_ my dad tells me to. "We're kinda hungry Dad. And besides, we don't have any homework."

My dad frowns, but he know there's no way he'll get me to leave.

We eat a few more cookies, and I start cleaning out my backpack, just for something to do, before the awkwardness gets to be overwhelming.

"Do you guys want to go play some video games or something?" I ask. Iggy replies enthusiastically, which is gross since he's just taken a bite of a cookie, and Fang nods, looking immensely relieved. As hard as my relationship with my dad is, I think it's harder on Fang.

Fang never met his dad and even though his mom tried really hard to raise Fang well, kids just need a dad. Growing up so close to me gave Fang the opportunity to sort of adopt my dad. That's probably one of the reasons I'm closer to Fang than Iggy. While Iggy was with his parents, Fang was with me and my dad. After Dad left, and I stopped talking to him, Fang had to stop too, out of loyalty to me. Which is hard, because Fang could really use a father figure right now.

We play Halo until Ella and Nudge show up. Then Ella joins in while Nudge talks. We continue playing until Nudge gets bored and goes home, and Iggy, Fang and I get tired of losing. Yeah, Ella's really, really good at most video games.

At around 7 the boys go to Iggy's for dinner, and Ella and I are forced to help Mom make dinner. That is, Ella helps Mom cook and I set the table and stay far away from anything I could burn, curdle, or otherwise ruin. I am the worst cook you'll ever meet, which is the only reason I keep Iggy around. (For the brain dead among you, that was a joke.)

Dinner is a most boring occasion, what with Ari whining because Mom's making him use a fork, Ella telling Mom all about the first day of school, and me not doing anything but eating. Dad has gone back to work, so at least I don't have to put up with him. He's a doctor, and for some reason that means he works really weird hours.

All in all, this day was a complete waste and utterly average. Except that right before I went to bed, my dad came home. I was already upstairs, so I didn't have to talk to him, but I overheard part of a conversation with Mom. It went something like this:

Mom: Don't you dare talk to her about this. She doesn't have a "destiny". She will choose what she wants to do with her life.

Dad: It's not optional. What Max wants doesn't really matter.

Mom: Of course it matters! It affects her the most!

Dad: If it were just about Max, I'd let her choose. But it's not about her. It's about everyone.

Mom: She's 14! I don't care what your scientific studies show. She's a child, not an experiment.

At that point the moved into the kitchen so I couldn't hear anything else, but I was already deeply disturbed. How many people are keeping secrets from me? First Fang and Iggy, and now Mom and Dad? And here I thought my life was so normal.


End file.
